It seems not a month goes by without a social media brouhaha involving a high-profile Christian leader. Such was the case when a prominent pastor tweeted about the recent Oklahoma tornado in a manner that seemed to connect the deadly storm to an act of God’s judgment. In between such controversies, insightful blog posts or “retweetable” phrases also go viral. Social media like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc., is creating a new class of religious influencers. If you want to watch the modern Christian conversation unfold, just log onto Twitter or check your Facebook feed. The Christian community’s voice has become a substantial one in the social, digital space.
A new Barna study shows that, in the last two years, there has been a significant leap in the number of pastors and churches engaging social media. In fact, some pastors are using an organic growth service for Instagram or even Tiktok, to reach even more Christians and spread their message even further. They are able to grow a following of like-minded people who can interact with and support each other. It might come as a shock, you may have thought religious spaces are the last place to resort to social media and its tools, they actually use these platforms to preach their beliefs and enlighten more people about their practices. Taking the example of Instagram growth tools and TikTok promo tools from above, these are extremely accessible at present, some proven to work wonders for businesses. Additionally, they’re one of the reasons social media is good for getting the word out as they boost your followers and subsequently there is more awareness for your cause whatever it may be. These can be tools like Upleap which have some excellent reviews, or Kicksta which have some not so good reviews. More than one in five American pastors (21%) say their churches use Twitter, up from only 14% in 2011. Facebook usage in churches has likewise jumped from just over half (57%) to a full seven in 10. Pastors themselves are also engaged in online communication, with nearly one-quarter (23%) who use Twitter, well over six in 10 (66%) who are on Facebook, and over one in five (22%) who have a personal blog.
read the full story at the Barna Group: http://www.barna.org/congregations-articles/628-the-rise-of-the-pastor
